Brick-and-mortar audio retailing is in decline, but fortunately there’s another way to hear the best new sound gear: Attend one of the growing number of regional audio shows. Last year saw the first Los Angeles-area show in years, T.H.E. Show Newport, which took over much of the Hilton Hotel near the Orange County Airport.
When we think about how electronics products are developed, we might imagine huge teams of faceless engineers, executives embroiled in endless discussions in elaborate conference rooms, and an almost Kafkaesque process that no one person really understands or controls.
Hanging out at the recent Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, I listened in on a conversation that S+V writer Mike Trei was having with an audio manufacturer who's getting into the headphone biz.
Something's in the air - it must be time for some summer reading. Earlier this week we told you about the new edition of the Rotel Ultimate Guide to High Performance Home Theater. And a reader recently asked me what books he should read to learn more about audio and video. I am unabashedly stealing this idea for an article.
After all, we all learned this stuff somewhere.
From entry level to advanced, here's a list of many things for the book learnin'.
At the end of 2011, I wrote about the shutting down of Star Wars: Galaxies, the massively-multiplayer online game set in Lucas's fantasy universe. I hadn't played the game in years, not since Sony irreparably massacred the gameplay, dumbing it down and alienating its core players.
But now it's back. Not in hobbled "NGE" form, but with old-school Jump to Lightspeed-era gameplay.
I couldn't resist this walk down memory lane. So, after all these years... how does it hold up?
While on a swing through Vancouver this week to check out the vintage audio scene, I stopped by to say hi to the guys at Vancouver Audio Speaker Clinic, an old-school speaker repair shop of the type I haven’t seen since I was a kid in the 1970s trying to resurrect the shredded speakers from my
Initially, the Tablet S was supposed to be part of our big tablet roundup. Requests for review samples repeatedly ignored, so we went ahead and forgot about them.
Well you’d never guess, but comments like “if you’re looking for the perfect tablet, you have two choices” tend to get to get a company’s attention. At least, when that company isn’t one of those two choices.
Shiny new Tablet S in hand mere days later, I set off to find out if it could be a worthy contender against the Fire and iPad.
When I first saw the Soundmatters FoxL portable audio system, I knew I’d found something cool, but I didn’t realize it would start a movement. The FoxL proved that a tiny, briefcase-toteable sound system could deliver satisfying sound. Since then, we’ve seen lots of products inspired by the FoxL, including the Jawbone Jambox, the Braven 650, and now the Monster ClarityHD Micro.
I’ve been covering video projection since the early 1990s, but last week was the first time I walked into a product display and had a hard time figuring out which projector was showing which picture.
I have to admit, I didn't think I'd get into this game. I like my action games actiony, and my strategy games real-time. A turn-based action game? What kind of unholy chimera is that?
I never played the original X-COM (the 1994 version had a hyphen, and an incredible following), so the excitement surrounding this remake was lost on me.
Once I tried it, though. . . wow is it easy to get sucked in.
If I had been sitting across from someone I'd never heard of who was starting yet another headphone company, I'd have probably steered the conversation to the weather or Lady Gaga's latest outfit.
If you haven’t listened to the brilliant Sound+Vision Radio program, you’re missing out. I say “brilliant” not in a self-serving, egomaniacal way.
Wait, of course that’s why I’m mentioning it. But don’t let my ego prevent you from enjoying the witty banter and in-depth discussions of all things A/V, music, movies and more.
Links to local affiliates where you can hear us, plus podcast links and such, after the jump.
With CES a few days away, and my yearly pilgrimage to that great abomination in the desert (Las Vegas) imminent, I figured it was a good time to compile some excellent driving songs.
The key to a good driving song is not that the song has something to DO with driving, that's lazy and often highly inaccurate. Similar to my article on Pop Music in the Movies, the key is the feel. The key is a fast, *ahem* driving beat.